Study on Shear Rate Effects in Direct Shear Tests at Saturated Soil–Geotextile Interfaces

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-703-3_17How to use a DOI?

Keywords

saturated soil–geotextile interface; direct shear test; shear rate effect; negative rate dependence; excess pore water pressure; contractive deformation

Abstract

The shear rate effect on saturated soil–geotextile interface behavior was investigated through modified direct shear tests on silty clay from the Lanzhou New District, China, under four normal stress levels (25–100 kPa) and four shear rates (0.02–1.2 mm/min). Results show that all shear stress–displacement curves exhibited strain-hardening behavior without post-peak softening, with ultimate shear stress increasing approximately linearly with normal stress. A pronounced negative rate dependence was identified: at 50 kPa normal stress, steady-state shear strength decreased from 45 kPa to 36 kPa (20% reduction) as shear rate increased from 0.02 to 1.2 mm/min. Contractive deformation increased with normal stress but decreased with shear rate, declining from 0.6 mm to 0.3 mm over the tested range. The underlying mechanism is attributed to a gradual drainage transition: low shear rates maintained near-drained conditions with limited excess pore pressure (5–7 kPa), whereas high rates induced significant pore pressure accumulation (18 kPa), reducing effective stress and suppressing both strength mobilization and contractive deformation. These findings inform interface parameter selection for geosynthetic-reinforced structures in seasonally frozen regions.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Jianhua Dong
AU  - Jianhua Huang
AU  - Pengfei He
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/08
TI  - Study on Shear Rate Effects in Direct Shear Tests at Saturated Soil–Geotextile Interfaces
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 2nd International Conference on Engineering Management and Safety Engineering (EMSE 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 182
EP  - 191
SN  - 2352-5401
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-703-3_17
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-703-3_17
ID  - Dong2026
ER  -